Never Easy

Upon first discovering the headliner band “Never Easy“, they were recommended as a reel to watch on Instagram/TikTok. The video showcases when times were easier in the early 2000s, featuring a litany of imagery and montage of media nostalgia from the 2000s, such as Viva La Bam, skate culture and nu metal. Sonically accompanying this were the throwback sonical echoes of Deftones or a nu metal sound mixed with the atmospheric goose bumps of the shoegaze genre. This genre today is called nu-gaze.

This is the Montreal-based duo’s first foray abroad on a UK debut headline tour, where hardly any shows had any tickets left on the day. Sell out shows abroad in a couple of hundred-cap venues. A dream for a lot of bands, never mind international newcomers supporting their debut album, 2024’s “It Never Gets Easier”.

Tasked with the duty of main support is up-and-coming UK alt outfit Lastelle, guiding them through the country on every date of the tour.

The gig opened up in the asylum 2 Birmingham, humidity thick in the air from the UK’s annual short-lived heatwave (aka weather slightly above 20 degrees Celsius).

The venue is pumped full of even thicker, dense fog and haze, lending to the atmosphere of the evening.

Terminals

Local Birmingham openers Terminals kick off the evening – the band mixes aural ambiences of shoegaze stillness with blasting and head-melting low-end bass-fuelled riffs. Perfectly balances a mixture of shoegaze influences and hard-as-nails riffs. I can see why these local newcomers have been welcomed to the 2000 Trees festival this year and will be going out of my way to catch their set again and get involved in the pit in a less formal setting.

Lastelle

Following this, Lastelle took to the stage with their brand of melodic yet heavy post hardcore. If the venue wasn’t already heaving, it was for their set. Shoulder to shoulder as the lead singer paced back and front at the top of the crowd, pure kinetic anthemic sounds. The mixture of cleans from the drummer and harsh vocals from the main singer created the perfect mixture. All the while, the dual guitars added a cocktail of melodic riffs.

Now it was time for the headliner, the “not another TikTok band”, “not another Deftones clone” and they definitely smashed that stereotype right from the get go.

Joined with an extra live guitarist on stage, really added extra layers to the wall of noise from the guitars. The vocals sank in and out of the wall of sound in that classic shoegaze way, tinged with the special sauce of early 2000s nu metal vibes.

The outfit ripped through their set, packed with their Spotify hit singles such as “Show Me” and “Stay”. It was impossible for anyone not to sway and bob to the heavy effects-laden riffs combined with almost haunting ethereal vocals. The band also played their recently released latest single “Cold”, which demonstrates a different side of the band – a very post-hardcore emo side.

This led to the ultimate atmosphere of not shoegaze but nu-gaze. Never easy definitely prove themselves as not another TikTok band or nostalgic nu metal band, but forerunners in the new genre of nu-gaze. And these boys are only getting started”.